Review by Carson Brackney of: http://www.contentdonebetter.com


"So, here I am offering up my review of Street Smart Internet Marketing by Justin Michie.

Last week, I put the finishing touches on a ghostwriting project. I wrote an ebook on a particular search engine optimization strategy. It was “techy,” targeted to a certain sub-group within the Internet marketing community and (by necessity) assumed a certain level of expertise from its readers. It was definitely an “inside baseball” kind of thing.

I think the finished product and the techniques it outlines will be very helpful for its target audience. However, it would be a horrible investment for someone who’s just looking to get their feet wet in the Internet marketing trade. It definitely wasn’t “beginner friendly.”

I’ve also noticed that many of the titles that are marketed as being “beginner friendly” aren’t really that great for new entrants, either. You can find fifty different “comprehensive” guides to making a living online in about ten minutes. Most of them, however, don’t live up to their great sales pitches. They’re either an example of selling sizzle and forgetting steak, or they are little more than bait for back-end mentoring, software or additional ebook sales.

When I saw the full title of Michie’s book, Street Smart Internet Marketing – Tips, Tools, Tactics & Techniques to Market Your Product, Service, Business or Ideas Online, I had a bad feeling that it would fall into the second category. The title made it clear that Justin was tackling an expansive subject area and those “comprehensive” guides just don’t have a great track record.

The introduction started to strengthen my reservations, too. There was the usual talk about making good money while working only a few hours every day, Justin’s personal version of the “rags to riches tale,” and some of the usual trappings found within the genre. Within a few minutes, though, I noticed that the water in the hype bath was running low. Michie pulled the plug on it.

The rest of this expansive (over 300 pages) guide was friendly, conversational, informative “non-hustle.” Street Smart Internet Marketing is a lot like sitting down with a genuinely decent friend and having him or her provide an overview of the IM business (with a strong emphasis on information marketing) from top to bottom.

I’m a writer who spends a great deal of time working in this genre and this blog’s audience consists, to a large extent, of other writers who either work with IMers or who’d like to do more business with them. I’ve consistently preached that writers should have a good grasp of their clients’ business if they want to do a good job. I’m not saying that Street Smart Internet Marketing is going to take someone who doesn’t know the trade and turn them into part of IM’s inner circle in a week. I don’t think Michie would ever say that, either. I will, however, say that anyone who doesn’t know how Internet marketing works or who is trying to get a handle on its basic tenets and principles could benefit from Street Smart.

I also think it’s a great “foundation read” for anyone interested in exploring IM for their existing business or as a new entrepreneurial path. Street Smart Internet Marketing doesn’t provide every nut, bolt, washer, screw and tool necessary to build an Internet marketing moneymaking machine. It does provide context. It’s hard to overestimate the value of that. In a topic area filled with guides offering the latest “secret” or newest technique, a solid survey book like Street Smart is pretty refreshing.

Here’s what I liked about Street Smart Internet Marketing:

• It’s a pretty thorough and fair-handed survey of IM’s terrain.
• It provides a nice “big picture” and isn’t an advocacy piece for a particular approach.
• It really does deliver on the “no hype” promise so many other ebooks make.
• It has a great glossary and index that add to its reference value.

There were a few things I didn’t like. None of these are “deal-breakers,” but I do have a couple of minor gripes:

• Michie advocates use of elance.com and similar sites as a preferred means of finding writers and other freelance specialists. I’m not a fan of the bid board system, personally.
• The segment on blogs seemed slightly underdeveloped to me.
• Street Smart doesn’t provide any real attention to some more recent trends like social bookmarking, social networking and other “Web 2.0″-style developments.
• Some “old school” subject matter and technique receives a little more attention than I personally think it deserves.

While writing this review, I realized that I don’t have a clever rating system for reviews. Thumbs up/down? Overused. 0-5 stars? Boring. Letter grades? There’s a reason why I left teaching. Until I devise a system, I’ll just have to work with a final paragraph:

Street Smart Marketing is broad, but not deep. It will give you a great “at a glance” overview of Internet marketing without dwelling on any particular aspect of the trade. It’s an easy read that can provide much-needed context and general understanding for those interested in the business. The price is very friendly, as is the text itself. It’s nice to see an Internet marketing guide that treats the reader as an interested learner instead of as a potential customer for “whatever comes next.”

If you’re interested in Street Smart, you can visit the sales page here (NOT an affiliate link)."

Source: http://www.contentdonebetter.com/2007/03/22/51

Internet Marketing Book Review

Review by Erwin Steneker of: http://www.customerservicepoint.com 
 

"...Justin knows his stuff… he knows how to get to the core of the subject, the advice he gives is sound and clearly comes from experience. So while you won’t learn everything there is to know on a given subject, the advice given is expert advice that is good to keep in mind and implement where possible. And I’m sure there are some aspects you haven’t even heard about, especially when you have just started online....
 

...Justin Michie has taken on a big elephant, and he helps you eat it one spoonful at the time. Street Smart Internet Marketing will give you a great insight on most if not all aspects of your Internet business. The advice is sound and from experience.
 

It’s like having an expert at your side that you can call on for just about any Internet subject, who shares his experience and best practices with you..."
 

Read the rest of the review at: http://www.customerservicepoint.com/street-smart-internet-marketing.html 

 

Internet Marketing Book Review - Street Smart Internet Marketing by Justin Michie

Review by Alex Richards

"So you’d like to start making money on the Internet, but you don’t know an AdWords campaign from search engine optimization? Fear not, help has arrived.

Let me introduce you to Justin Michie’s new Internet marketing book “Street Smart Internet Marketing: Tips, Tools, Tactics & Techniques to Market Your Product, Service, Business or Ideas Online.”

Too many people seem to jump into starting an Internet business with their eyes closed and then wonder why they fail. In a study by thebusinessdevelopers.com, it was found that 9 out of 10 internet businesses will ultimately fail – don’t let that happen to you. As with anything, you’ll experience much more success learning from the experience, trials and tribulations of others than trying to figure things out for yourself. This book is an excellent and very affordable way to do just that.

I must admit I was very impressed when I started reading this book. Unlike many other books in this field it does not promise the world overnight. It is very realistic in both the author’s expectations and implementation of his strategies. Not only is the book very informative and well written, but it is also well researched. Since it was just released and published in December of ‘06 all the information is fully up-to-date which is absolutely essential in this rapidly changing field.

I found that this book is user-friendly and comprehensive, pulling into one resource a multitude of successful, Internet marketing strategies, techniques and tips based on the success and experience of the author. Furthermore, the author has done an excellent job in presenting all the essential topics as related to creating and managing a successful Internet marketing presence with no stone left unturned.

Even if you’re an absolute Internet newbie, there’s no need to worry. Each topic begins with the basics spelled out in simple English and then progresses step by step to the more advanced marketing concepts - so even if you’ve been online for awhile you’ll still find a wealth of valuable information.

Street Smart Internet Marketing is a little longer than most business related books coming in at 307 pages… but don’t let that deceive you - there is not an ounce of wasted space and boring it is not. It also includes an in-depth glossary containing hundreds of common “Internet marketing” related terms and a comprehensive index making it very easy to use as a reference tool. The rest of the book is divided into seven sections containing thirty-eight chapters. Some of the many topics you can expect to learn about include:

Driving traffic to your website for little or no cost

• Building an opt-in email list

• Optimizing your website for search engines

• The secrets of information marketing

• Website design including sales optimization

• Effective email marketing

• Product development and positioning

• Joint venture marketing

• Affiliate marketing

• And much more…

By the time you are done reading this book you can expect to be an expert in all of these areas and more. There is literally so much information that you’ll want to take notes or grab a highlighter so you don’t forget any important concepts or strategies.

If you currently have an offline business (or even if you don’t) and want to get online this is the perfect place to start. I would have paid a lot of money to have had access to this information a few years ago when I was first getting started online. Maybe it is the experience of trying to figure things out for myself that allows me to see how valuable the information in this book really is.

Compared with other internet marketing related books I’ve read, or even the much more expensive courses I’ve purchased, I found this to be an exceptional resource and I am constantly referring back to it for guidance and marketing ideas. There is literally nothing that I have seen that has this much practical “real world” content. This is a book that I strongly feel anyone with a website should have on their desk… and priced at under $20, there’s no reason not to.

One of the many things I liked about this book is that it doesn’t just spit out buckets of information then leave the rest to you; it provides helpful knowledge and experience in a very actionable form which includes step by step instructions for things like writing proper response-oriented emails and creating a high quality information product.

Unlike many other books on similar subjects I have read, I found this book most practical - and closest to the need in the real business world, thus the origin of the title “Street Smart Internet Marketing.” Justin’s techniques are sound, practical, user friendly and well tested. I highly recommend anyone who has any interest in online marketing immediately buy this book and devour every single word!

Also, did I mention that there is also a special membership site for readers of the book where they can find updated information, additional resources and freebies among other things. If you only buy one internet marketing book this year - make darn sure this is the one.

This book is available online at http://www.Amazon.com, or you can get it directly from the author’s website at http://www.InternetMarketingBook.com. By the time you finish reading it, your success on the Internet will be just around the corner…"